Paper 2, Section II, D

Principles of Quantum Mechanics | Part II, 2011

A quantum system has energy eigenstates ∣n⟩|n\rangle with eigenvalues En=nℏ,n∈E_{n}=n \hbar, n \in {1,2,3,…}\{1,2,3, \ldots\}. An observable QQ is such that Q∣n⟩=qn∣n⟩Q|n\rangle=q_{n}|n\rangle.

(a) What is the commutator of QQ with the Hamiltonian HH ?

(b) Given qn=1nq_{n}=\frac{1}{n}, consider the state

∣ψ⟩∝∑n=1Nn∣n⟩|\psi\rangle \propto \sum_{n=1}^{N} \sqrt{n}|n\rangle

Determine:

(i) The probability of measuring QQ to be 1/N1 / N.

(ii) The probability of measuring energy ℏ\hbar followed by another immediate measurement of energy 2ℏ2 \hbar.

(iii) The average of many separate measurements of QQ, each measurement being on a state ∣ψ⟩|\psi\rangle, as N→∞N \rightarrow \infty.

(c) Given q1=1q_{1}=1 and qn=−1q_{n}=-1 for n>1n>1, consider the state

∣ψ⟩∝∑n=1∞αn/2∣n⟩,|\psi\rangle \propto \sum_{n=1}^{\infty} \alpha^{n / 2}|n\rangle,

where 0<α<10<\alpha<1.

(i) Show that the probability of measuring an eigenvalue q=−1q=-1 of ∣ψ⟩|\psi\rangle is

A+BαA+B \alpha

where AA and BB are integers that you should find.

(ii) Show that ⟨Q⟩ψ\langle Q\rangle_{\psi} is C+DαC+D \alpha, where CC and DD are integers that you should find.

(iii) Given that QQ is measured to be −1-1 at time t=0t=0, write down the state after a time tt has passed. What is then the subsequent probability at time tt of measuring the energy to be 2ℏ2 \hbar ?

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